This spring, Gallery 221 presented Sacred Folk: Selections from Jeanine Taylor Folk Art, featuring works by over twenty well-known southern folk artists. Jeanine Taylor Folk Art in Sanford, FL, is one of the South’s most distinguished galleries representing folk, visionary, outsider and self-taught artists from Florida and the Deep South. Their “non-traditional” art backgrounds, unusual use of materials and varied sources of inspiration created a fascinating exhibition of unique artistic expression.

Artists represented included Mose Tolliver, Missionary Mary Proctor, Butch Anthony, Alyne Harris, Michael Banks, Carl Knickerbocker, Cornbread, Anthony Pack, Jim Shores and Hillsborough County's own beloved folk artist, Ruby C. Williams. The exhibition was augmented with folk art treasures on loan from Tampa Bay area collectors, including an important group of wood figures by William Dawson, a seminal Chicago folk artist known for his whimsical carvings. Gallery 221 was pleased to organize this exhibition which gave students, faculty, and the community at large an opportunity to learn about and enjoy artworks created by truly unique individuals with fascinating backgrounds.

The newly re-christened Gallery 3, on the third floor of the library, recently presented the work of HCC alumni Kurt Piazza. A multi-media artist working primarily in video, installation, photography and performance art, Piazza displayed nine large-scale prints from a series exploring architecture and the built environment as metaphors for the concepts of time and space. Piazza is a graduate of the University of South Florida, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Electronic Media. He has exhibited his work both regionally and nationally, including Art Basel, Miami Beach, as well as the Conley Gallery at the University of California at Fresno. In 2011, he had his first solo exhibition, THE FUTURE BELONGS TO GHOSTS, at HCC’s Ybor School of Visual and Performing Arts Gallery.

Josette Urso, Sunset Sea Pt. Lligat, 2010

In the Fall, New York artist and Tampa native Josette Urso, has been invited to design a site-specific installation within Gallery 221. Urso will be creating a large-scale drawing that will be transferred to vinyl and adhered to the gallery walls, much like a billboard. The multi-media exhibit, Drawing to Scale, will include a collection of paintings and drawings which reference and compliment the unique wall project. On view through September 27, the public is invited to an opening reception and artist’s talk on Thursday, September 6. Urso received a BFA and MFA from the University of South Florida and is an internationally recognized artist with work in public and private collections throughout the United States and abroad. A recipient of numerous awards and honors, including two Pollock-Krasner Foundation grants, she has also participated in artist residencies in locations as diverse as Taiwan, Cambodia, Ireland and France.